Two Harvard students have demonstrated how Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses can be modified to dox individuals in public by using facial recognition software. Their project, designed to raise awareness about privacy risks, has sparked concerns over the growing potential for wearable technology to invade personal privacy.
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AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio, both students at Harvard University, created a tool called “I-XRAY,” which integrates facial recognition software PimEyes with Meta’s smart glasses to publicly identify individuals.
By simply looking at a person, the glasses can retrieve personal details such as names, addresses, and phone numbers from online databases.
The project shows how easily such technology could be used for malicious purposes, such as stalking or harassment, underscoring the urgent need for privacy regulations.
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Their experiment, which included a test in a crowded subway station, illustrated the potential misuse of facial recognition tools paired with inconspicuous smart glasses.
The students, who have no plans to release their code, stress that this is a wake-up call for lawmakers to take action before such technology is widely abused.
Nguyen and Ardayfio’s findings add to the ongoing debate over the balance between technological advancements and privacy, as wearable devices gain popularity but also pose significant risks.
EVER SINCE THE RELEASE OF GOOGLE-GLASS MORE THAN A DECADE AGO – THERE HAVE BEEN PRIVACY CONCERNS ASSOCIATED WITH WEARABLE TECH.
WE GOT A REMINDER OF THAT AGAIN THIS WEEK, THANKS TO TWO HARVARD STUDENTS.
IN THIS VIDEO THEY’RE REVEALING THE STARTLING WAY META’S RAY-BAN SMART GLASSES CAN BE MISUSED.
BY INTEGRATING THE GLASSES WITH A-I FEATURES LIKE FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE AND A LARGE LANGUAGE MODEL, THEY CREATED A DEVICE CAPABLE OF IDENTIFYING STRANGERS IN MERE SECONDS. PERSONAL DETAILS LIKE NAMES, PHONE NUMBERS, AND EVEN HOME ADDRESSES ARE INSTANTLY RETRIEVABLE.
THE MODIFIED GLASSES MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO SCAN FACES WITHOUT BEING NOTICED. DURING TESTS, THEY USED THIS TECHNOLOGY TO IDENTIFY COMMUTERS IN A SUBWAY STATION, PULLING PERSONAL DATA FROM PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATABASES. THEY ARE EVEN ABLE TO START CONVERSATIONS WITH PEOPLE THEY’VE NEVER MET… USING DATA ATTAINED JUST BY LOOKING AT THEIR FACES… TO PRETEND THEY ARE PAST ACQUAINTANCES FOR SOCIAL ENGINEERING.
THE STUDENTS NAMED THEIR PROJECT ‘I-X-RAY,’ WARNING THAT SUCH TECH COULD EASILY BE USED MALICIOUSLY. IN THE VIDEO… THEY EXPLAIN HOW THE IDENTIFICATION PROCESS WORKS.
BOTH STUDENTS STRESSED THEY DON’T INTEND TO RELEASE THIS TECHNOLOGY TO THE PUBLIC… BUT TO HIGHLIGHT THE SERIOUS NEED FOR PRIVACY REGULATIONS. THEY HOPE THIS SERVES AS A WAKE-UP CALL TO LAWMAKERS, AS WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO EVOLVE.
FOR MORE UNBIASED UPDATES AND STRAIGHT FACTS… DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP OR VISIT SAN DOT COM.
FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS… I’M KARAH RUCKER.
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